Filing device



Oct. 23,1934.A LE Rol E. HUTcHlNGs 1,978,331

FILING DEVICE Original Filed April 17, 1926 v HISTORY OF GREECE U DascmpTloN U DESCRIPTION 480 PP '1918 A UA] Q HISTORY oF 6R" c i PatentedOct. 2.3, 1934 PATENT oFF-ler.`

FILING DEVICE Le Roi E. Hutchings, Builalo, N. Y., assigner to RemingtonRand Inc., Builalo, N. Y.

Original application April 17, 1926,V Serial No.

102,655. Divided and this application Fehmary 24, 1930, Serial No.430,962

3 Claims.

This invention relates to iiling devices, and has particular referenceto a filing system in which a plurality oi inter-linked index cards aregrouped on a holder or frame assembled Witha number of like holders in areadily accessible manner.

The subject matter of the'present invention has been divided from myprior and copending application, Serial No. 102,655, iiled April 17,'

in the following description of the embodiment of the invention hereinclaimed.

In the drawing:

Fig. l is a perspective view of a file tray having holders containingimproved iiling'cards,

Fig. 2 is a front view of one of the improved file cards ready to beinstalledin the card holder,

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary iront view of a strip of the improved file cardsafter developing the sensitized paper and before severing the cards onefrom the other,

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary front view on a large scale, oiv a pair of thecards joined together-1n overlapping position to form a chain or seriesof cards, l

Fig. 5-is a iront view of one of the holders which is adapted to supportthe photographic cards in lng' position,

Fig. 6 is a rear view of one of the holders with several of thephotographic cards in position,

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary detail view on a large4 scale of the top oi oneof the holders and photographic ille cards, y

Fig. 8 is a longitudinal sectional view through one of the trays whichsupports the holder frames and holders, and Y Fig. 9 is a fragmentarytransverse sectional view throughone of the file trays.

Fig. 10 is a sectional view taken along the line 10--10 ot Fig. 9.

As pointed out in detail in the mentioned prior application, thereproducing process provides a strip oi paper 20' having the reproducedcharacters imprinted thereon, which strip is also punched with receivingportions or slots 22 and 23 and openings 24 to tormattaching portions ortabs 25. After exposure of the photographic.

apparatus and developed in the usual way. The resulting strip ofphotographic iile cards shown in Fig. 3, then is severed across dottedline 26 to form individual finished file cards 27 as shown in Fig. 2.These ille cards are preferably smaller than` the original from whichthey Were photographed, so that they occupy a very small space. If someof the printing has been reduced to such a small scale in photographingthat it can not be easily read with the naked eye, it is contemplated toemploy an ordinary reading glass so that thev inscriptions and readingmatter I28 can be clearly seen.

It should be understood that these photographic file cards may be placedpn edgein a file tray in the usual manner without linking the cards oneto the other. However, the preierred form of the invention contemplatesthe use of the photographic file cards linked together to form a chainor series of cards so that a considerable number of cards can be seen ata glance thus `making the filing system very fast and elcient and thelabor required in reference work is reduced to a minimum. The linking ofthe cards together to form a chain or series is accomplished byinserting the tab 25 of onecard in a slot 22 of another card, then"bending the upper edge of the card and inserting the opposite tab 25 inthe opposite slot 22 of the adjacent card. Upon release of the card, itiiattens out and the two cards are -thenlinked together as shown in Fig.4. 'Il'iis operation is repeated until a chain or series oi cards 29 isformed, each card overlapping the card next to it. When it is desired toremove a card from the chain, this operation is reversed and a new cardcan then be inserted in its place. Thus a ille having these chains o!cards can be easily kept up to date by quickly inserting new cards toreplace old ones. In some cases the-` notations imprinted on thephotographic ille card will be so brief that only the upper `part of thecard will be filled with inscriptions 28. In order to use the filingsystem in the molt-eilicient way, it is preferred to have a plurality o!slots 22 and 23 so that the tabs 'of the adjacent card can be insertedin the appropriate pair of slots, thus exposing to view only the portionof the card actually containing inscriptions 28 while the blank part cithe card is covered up by the adjacent card.

These chains of photographic ille cards may be supported in any one oi avariety of illing cabinets of different form Vso as to be readilyaccessible for reference. In the preferred form of filing cabinet, aseries oi card holders 30 is provided of reasonably strong material suchas heavy paper, cardboard or the like. Each holder 30 has a cardretainer or transparent sheath 31 folded over the top edge so that thefold 32 on the front of the holder is somewhat longer than the fold 33on the back of the holder. This sheath is preferably secured to theholder 30 by staples 34 although any other form of fastening device forthe sheath may be used. At the bottom of the holder 30, a semi-flexiblestrip 35 is preferably attached by means of staples 36 so that each endof the strip 35 extends beyond the holder 30, thus forming tongues 37.

A series of perforated slots 37A is provided in the holder 30 to form abend line so that said holder may be bent back upon itself along thisbend iine.- 'Ihe strip and holder may then be bent somewhat in themiddle, and the tongues 37 slipped under retaining angle clips -38extending along each edge of frames 39. When the holder is then allowedto flatten out, the strips and holders are held in alignment with thestrips 35 in abutting position, edge to edge, and the upper edges of theholders overlapping andexposing to view the series of transparentsheaths 31.

On the front of the holders 30, the upper edges of the file cards in agiven chain are inserted under the fold 32 of the sheath 31 so that theinscription on the top of each file card can be seen through thetransparent fold 32, as shown in Fig. 7. Thus, the file card becomesself-indexing and the fold 32also holds the upper end of the chain offile cards in position on the holder 30. In order to hold the bottom endof -the chain of cards in position on the holder 30,

supplementary card-retaining means or ears 40 are cut from the holder 30near the strip 35 and the lower end of the chain of ille cards isinserted under this ear. A plurality or vertical series of these ears 40may be provided so that the bottom of the chain of cards may be held inposition on the holder 30 regardless of the length of the chain ofcards.

In order to attach chains of le cards to the lbacl'; of the holders 30as shown in Fig. 6, slots 37B are provided in the holder adapted toreceive the tabs 25 of the top le cards in the chains. The bottom edgeof the bottom card of each chainis then slipped under the short fold 33of the transparent sheath 31.

The frames 39 are preferably supported in a vertical position in a metaltrayv or box 41 having angle strips 42 along the inside of each sidewall 43. A roll 44 is formed at the bottom of each frame 39 and the end45 of the roll extends under the angle strip 42 thus permitting theframe 39 to be tilted at a considerable angle but still be retained inthe box 41. A hinge member 46 is pivotally mounted on each end 47 of thetray, this hinge member being adapted-to engage a clip 48 on the endframe 49 when in one position and to be swung outwardly and downwardlyinto an open position when it is desired to remove frames from the tray41 or to refer to holders amasar mounted on frames near the center ofthe tray 4l. 'I'he angle strip 42 extends within some distance of theend 47 of the tray 41 thus permitting frames to be removed by slidingtoward one end of the tray 41 until the roll ends 45 are cleared fromthe end of the angle strip 42. In reference to the cards on the back ofholders 30, the holders are bent forward almost to a horizontalposition.

I would state in conclusion that while the illustrated examplesconstitute a practical embodiment of my invention, I do not limit myselfprecisely to the details herein described, since manifestly the same canbe considerably modified Without departing from the spirit of theinvention as defined in the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:-

1. In a filing device, a tray, a plurality of vertically arranged framemembers pivotally mounted in the tray and being adapted for hingingmovement relative to each other, a group of card holders on each framemember, means for mounting the group of card holders on each framemember in substantially vertical position to form an overlapping seriesof card holders, said card holders on each frame member being adaptedfor hinging movement relative to each other, cardretaining means on eachholder and a card removably attached to each holder by the retainingmeans thereon.

2. In a filing device, a tray, a plurality of vertically arranged framemembers pivotally mounted in the tray and being adapted for hingingmovement relative to each other, a group of card holders on each framemember, means for mounting the group of card holders on each framemember in substantially vertical position to form an overlapping seriesof card holders, said card holders on each frame member being adaptedfor hinging movement relative to each other, a plurality of cards oneach card holder, interlocking means on each card for connection to asimilar card to form an imbricated series of cards, and card-retainingmeans on each holder for removably mounting the series of cards.

3. In a ling device, a tray, a. plurality of vertically arranged framemembers pivotally mounted in the tray and being adapted for hingingmovement relative to each other, a group of card holders on each framemember, means for mounting the group of card holders on each framemember in substantially vertical position to form an overlapping seriesof card holders, said card holders on each frame member being adaptedfor hinging movement relative to each other, a plurality of cards oneach card holder, each card having a plurality of tabs and a pluralityof openings, the tabs of one card being adapted to register with andenter into the openings of another similar card to form an interlockingimbricated series of cards, and card-retaining means on each holder forremovably mounting a series of cards.

LE ROI E. HUTCHINGS.

lllO

